


Cry

by Random_Soul



Series: Aaron Burr x Hamilsquad [5]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Explicit Language, F/M, Light Angst, M/M, Polyamory, Poor Aaron Burr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:41:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22932742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Soul/pseuds/Random_Soul
Summary: Aaron Burr comes back after years of being gone. So much has changed since then.
Relationships: Aaron Burr/Alexander Hamilton/John Laurens/Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette/Hercules Mulligan, Aaron Burr/Everyone, George Washington/Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson/James Madison, hamilsquad/Burr
Series: Aaron Burr x Hamilsquad [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586617
Comments: 6
Kudos: 165





	Cry

**Author's Note:**

> I know these are all mainly focused on Aaron Burr and I did that because there aren't a lot of ships with him and the other four.
> 
> This also took forever and I have five different drafts that I started for chapters. The next one will be a cute one (but also sad but also happy... It's hard to explain.)

Thomas stormed across the classroom, James by his side. Finally, he stopped in front of four other kindergartners. He stomped his foot to get their attention. They looked up from the blocks they were playing with. Thomas was fuming.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU DID IT!?!" Lafayette smiled.

"Thomas, what are you talking about. We've been here ze entire time."

"Yeah, calm down, curly fries." John said, getting a chuckle out of Hercules. Thomas was having none of it.

"Was it you, Alex? It's something you would do." Alex looked up, bored.

"I didn't do anything, so go away." Thomas was getting angrier.

"Well, Aaron isn't sitting over there, crying for no reason-"

"SOMEONE MADE AARON CRY!?! WHO IS IT!?! I'LL FIGHT THEM!" Alex stated, jumping up. John, Hercules, and Lafayette were hot on his heels.

"WELL, IF I KNEW WHO IT WAS, I WOULD'VE FOUGHT THEM ALREADY, WOULDN'T I!?!"

"I DON'T NEED YOUR SASS!" James fiddled with his sleeve. He never enjoyed arguments like this.

"Yelling about this isn't gonna make Aaron feel better. If anything, it will make it worse. He doesn't like it when anyone fights." Alex huffs and turns to him. Hercules went to James.

"Where is he?" James pointed to the corner. Alex, John, Hercules, and Lafayette raced to where he pointed. In the back, Aaron was bawling his eyes out. Lafayette hugs him and Hercules looked at him.

"What happened?"

"Nothing." John thinks. He was happy last time they saw him. They wanted to play with him. Alex asked him to play, John asked him about Theo, Lafayette told him he was the worst (in an obviously joking way), and Hercules asked him about the book he was reading. The book Aaron clearly didn't have.

"Aaron, did someone steal your book?" Aaron began to cry even harder. Alex got down on his knees

"We'll go get your book back for you!" Aaron wiped his tears, even though he was still crying.

"N-no... It's fine, really..."

"It is not fine!" Laf said, still hugging him. Hercules stood behind them.

"WHO MADE AARON CRY?!!"

"FIGHT!" John screamed, throwing his hands in the air. Hercules froze. Charles Lee had his book.

"Charles Lee took it." John's face goes red in anger.

"Stupid Charles Lee." John storms over. A few minutes, a lot of yelling and a threat of a punch later, John came back. In his hand was Aaron's book.

"Here you go, Aaron. I got your book back for you."

"You didn't need to." Hercules sat down, motioning for John to do so as well.

"Read it to us." Aaron blushed.

"I'm not good at reading." 

"Shut up Aaron, you're one of the smartest people I know." Aaron smiled. Alex never complimented anyone, let alone him. He opened the book.

"Once upon a time, there was a princess..."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few weeks later, Aaron moved away. Something happened and he and his sister had to move in with his uncle. It's been years since then. Alex, Lafayette, John, and Hercules have been dating for three years. James has come out as gay and people are holding bets to when he and Thomas will start dating. If they don't do it soon, the entire school will suffocate on their sexual tension. Alex has been thinking about Aaron since first hour. He was called down to the office and told that an Aaron Burr will be in his first and fourth hour, along with lunch in a week. He was asked to be nice and help him out. John looks at Alex. They are at lunch. Alex has John, Hercules, and Laf in both his lunch and fourth hour. They don't know.

"You alright, Alex? You look distracted."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just learned that someone is coming to the school. They'll be at lunch and fourth hour with us, along with my first hour."

"Really?" Hercules asked, eating a cookie Laf made.

"Yeah. It's Aaron Burr." They all freeze.

"Aaron Burr? He was in Kindergarten with us, oui?"

"Yup. He was the one we always tried to be friends with but would rather read his book."

"Everyone always picked on him. Well, everyone but James."

"They were close." Alex leans back, biting his thumb in thought.

"How much do you think he's changed?"

"Personalities of people don't really change from Kindergarten." Hercules stated. Alex sighed.

"I guess the only way to know is to wait and see."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Alex awoke to the long-awaited day. Today is Aaron's first day of school and Alex can't wait to see him. He throws on his sweatshirt and Hercules beeps, signifying his ride's here. He hugs Martha and leaves, jumping in the car. The other three are as excited as him.

"Are you ready, Alex?" John asked. They wouldn't admit it, but they've put an extra minute or two in their outfits this morning.

"As ready as I'll ever be." They make it to the school and go to Alex's first hour. They hang out and talk near Alex's seat closest to the door for about four minutes while the teacher does work. The door opens. Two people walk by, but they were able to keep their heads down.

"So this will be your first hour. That's Mr. Finn. He'll be your teacher." Mr. Finn stands up, shaking his hand.

"Hey, I'm Mr. Finn. It's nice to meet you."

"Aaron Burr." Alex's eyes go wide at the voice. It wasn't deep like Hercules. No, it was soft and soothing. It was the voice people use when soothing a crying child. It's the voice people fall asleep to. Alex looks up, hesitantly. John and Hercules managed to not look up in order to appear polite, but Lafayette was staring with wide eyes. He never had any chill.

"Merde." At the teacher's desk is Aaron. He was shorter than Alex when he didn't actually slouch and had the tiniest bit of hair on his head. He had grey dress pants and a dark purple button-up shirt, along with a body any human would be jealous of. He's skinny and has a subtle glint of muscles, almost like a dancer or a professional gymnastic. Alex knew immediately that the entire school is gonna drool over that. In fact, Laf's drooling at it right now. Alex kicks him.

"Laf, stop staring. You look like a creep." Laf looked away. John and Hercules looked up more subtly, both eyes going wide and a blush coming to their cheeks. The warning bell rings and the group forces themselves to move, each going to their class. Mr. Finn comes up with Aaron beside him.

"I don't know why four are insistent on always meeting in here." Alex shrugged

"All the other teachers kicked us out." Mr. Finn shakes his head, then remembers Aaron.

"Oh! Alex, this is Aaron. I'm sure you remember the meeting you had with the office about him."

"Yup. Hi, I'm Alex." He holds out his hand. Aaron shakes it.

"Aaron Burr." The class begins filling up with students. Mr. Finn nudges him.

"Come on, you'll be in front of my desk. That's our only free spot." Alex is upset that Aaron can't sit by him, but can't really be mad with the view of him walking away. He checks his phone to see five messages from the group chat of him and his boyfriends.

OT4

Gay Turtle: does everyone remember the thing Hercules joked about a year back? The one about us adding someone new?

Need No Introduction: you mean when I mentioned that the only person I'd want added is Aaron as long as he didn't change much because I needed someone who will actually shut their mouth for once? 

Gay Turtle: yeah. Were we serious about that?

Need No Introduction: I wasn't, but, after seeing him, I'm pretty serious.

Baguette: I say we get to know him more. We don't know how much he's changed emotionally (is that the right word?)

Alex looks around. From his seat, he sees the profile of Aaron as he stares ahead. The sun has just started to rise behind him through the window. He pulled up his camera and took a picture of it. Alex sends it to the group chat.

Tomcat: *sends picture

Tomcat: we know how he's changed physically.

Baguette: we really need to get to 'know him more' quickly. The entire school will jump that man quicker than Ms. Sally's class jumped on that table when the rat escaped.

Alex chuckles at the memory. The rats were supposed to be dead and being dissected when one got up and ran. Everyone jumped off of the ground and onto something. James Madison simply said, "I'm too tired for this" and grabbed the rat, throwing it out the window where is scurried away. The next day, he got bombarded with flowers and candies as thanks. James and Thomas had to make four trips just to get it all in the car. Alex was pulled out of his thoughts when Mr. Finn began talking. After class, Alex rushed over to Aaron's desk.

"Hey, so I was told that you had the same lunch as me. Do you want to sit with me and the others?" Aaron raised an eyebrow.

"Who are the others?"

"Lafayette, John, and Hercules." Aaron puts his folder in his bag.

"Are you four as unbearable as you were in Kindergarten?"

"You remembered! I was hoping that you didn't forget us. But yeah, nobody can stand us." Aaron chuckles, shaking his head.

"Fine, I'll sit with you. When is that? This is a weird schedule."

"Oh! So, because you have second lunch, you'll be halfway between third hour. See, we only have five classes so each is over an hour long. You won't need to bring your stuff unless you want to, though. You go back to third hour when you're done."

"That makes sense?" Aaron stares at it for a second longer. He shakes his head to clear it and grabs his bag, heading to his next hour. Alex does the same.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Some people think it's weird that four people dating each other are open enough to claim that they think another person is hot. Usually, they all can agree on whether a person is considered sexy or not, but fights have broken out between them. In the end, each one's love for the others isn't so fragile it would break by such a comment. Someone can be the sexiest man alive but also be a horrible human being. They will say if someone looks hot on a particular day and know that that person isn't gonna turn around and cheat on them. They were built on trust. So, when Alex is blowing up their phone about every little breath Aaron took in first hour, they just accept it. They know where Alex's heart is. They also learned quite a bit about Aaron through it. For example, during the lecture, Alex noted that Aaron would gently stroke his own arm. They also know he's a dry sarcastic from Alex retelling second for second the conversation after class. What John had noticed in the hallway, however, is how little he cared about people who try to flirt 

with him.

"Hey, baby. I didn't know they let angels go to school." Tyson. The stereotypical jock that wore significant others like they were a purse. There was a group of girls surrounding them. John didn't know if they were staring at Tyson or Aaron. Aaron rolled his eyes and went to walk away. Tyson grabbed his arm.

"I'm talking to you!" John stepped up.

"Leave him alone, Tyson. He wants to go." Tyson turned to him.

"What are you gonna do? Your buddies aren't here to protect you. So, why don't you walk over there and let me-" A person runs up to him and whispers something in his ear.

"I'll see you later, sweetheart." He rushes off. John looks at him go.

"He doesn't usually go that easily."

"He was scared." John looks at Aaron.

"What?"

"He was scared. You could see it in his eyes."

"What would he be-"

"WHERE IS HE!?!"

"Oh, no." Down the hall comes the one and only Thomas Jefferson. Like expected, James Madison is on his heels, looking sick of everything, like normal. Thomas spots John.

"John! Where is he!?!"

"Alex?"

"Fuckboy."

"Tyson. He ran away." James stepped up.

"Tell Thomas he's overreacting." John looks between them. Aaron is still there, standing a little off to the side.

"However much I love telling Thomas off, I would like to know what he's "overreacting" about."

"Tyson may have touched me."

"He threw a condom at you, told you to get naked, slapped your ass, and grinded against you!"

"He what? James, I think you are the one who's underreacting."

"THANK YOU!"

"You said it yourself, he's a fuckboy. He's gonna do stuff like that."

"He's not when I chop the bitch's dick off."

"Get Hercules. He'll help you when he hears what Tyson did to his cousin." James' eyes go wide.

"Thomas, no."

"Thomas, yes. I saw him just down the hall, too." Thomas bolts and James follows. Aaron watches them leave.

"Are they-"

"Dating? No." Aaron looked at John, confused (John will later blow up the group chat saying how cute Aaron's confused face is and Alex will demand a picture).

"Are they straight?"

"No. James came out last year and Thomas more bisexual then their flag."

"Then why aren't they dating?"

"Nobody knows." The warning bell rings.

"Let me see your schedule. You have Ms. Sally next. James has her too. Come on, I'll show you where that is." John walks him to the class. 

"I'm John Laurens, by the way. We were in Kindergarten together."

"Yeah, I remember. I'm sitting with you guys at lunch."

"Great! I'll see you, then." Right before he walks away, James comes down the hall, shaking his head.

"We're gonna have a murder on our hands."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Aaron stands in the lunchroom, trey in his hand. The rest of the day has gone by without incident and Aaron was able to rekindle his friendship with James. James also had second lunch but suggested that Aaron don't sit with him. Aaron is fine with that, considering he already told Alex he'd sit with them. Aaron looks over at the table with James. It's filled with many different people. It looks like basketball players and cheerleaders. Though the girls are obsessing over Thomas, he's only focusing on one. His arm is slung over James and stares at him as if he was the world. Aaron's eyes keep wandering. at a far table sits John and another one. They all look so different from Kindergarten, yet a few things have stayed the same. Most notably, John has just as many freckles as he did, if not more. Aaron slowly made his way to the table and sat down. John smiled.

"Aaron, you found us! I thought you'd sit with James for a minute there." Aaron looked over at their table.

"I don't think there'd be room for me. Thomas is quite popular."

"Trust me, he would rather sit alone with him and James." Aaron looked at the one who talked. He had a heavy french accent. Aaron stared at him for another second.

"Lafayette?" Laf's face lit up.

"You remember me! It's been so long, mon petite fleur, I was afraid you wouldn't." Aaron stares at him.

"I don't know much French, but I know petite is small and I'm assuming fleur is flower. So, did you just call me "my small flower"?"

"Oui!" Alex came and sit down, a man by his side. He's tall (not Lafayette tall, though) and his muscles have muscles. Aaron shakes his head, getting the image of the man from Spongebob out of his head.

"Hey, Aaron. Do you remember my name?" Aaron smiles.

"You're Hercules. The only one I haven't met yet. Also the accomplice of Thomas, apparently." 

"James talked us down."

"How did he manage to do that?"

"He told me I couldn't take my sewing stuff in prison and claimed he wouldn't visit Thomas in 

jail." Aaron begins to laugh. Hercules and Lafayette blush, smiling with him.

"I'm sorry, I'm just imagining big, tough, Hercules sitting on a rocking chair and knitting a sweater." Hercules gasped.

"I'll have you know that I knit a killer scarf." Aaron's laugh slowly trickled to a giggle. A girl came up to the table.

"Hi, my name is Sarah. You're the new kid, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. My name is Aaron."

"Are you going to the football game, tonight? I'll be there." She batted her eyelashes, giving off a flirtatious look. Aaron poked at his food.

"I wasn't planning on it." Alex smiled.

"You should! Hercules is the star football player and Lafayette is the cheerleader captain." Aaron chews in his thumbnail.

"I guess I can go." Sarah smiled and ran her hands across his shoulders.

"I'll be on the sidelines in the cheerleading section. I can't wait to see you." She drops off her phone number and walked away. Aaron stares at it.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"I think you're supposed to call it." John said, a hint of anger in his voice. Aaron looks at him.

"Yeah, I don't want to talk with her. She seems like the person who fucks someone just to brag about it." Lafayette raises his hand in objection.

"That is... exactly who she is." Alex smiles, grabbing the number.

"At least we can prank call her."

"Alex, no." John looks at Aaron. 

"Speaking of phone numbers, do you want mine? I can show you around town if you'd like." Aaron pulls out a scrap piece of paper and writes down his number.

"Just text me your name."

"Okay!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

It's been five months since Aaron has joined the school. Since then, he got his motorcycle license, took Alex on a ride, learned to knit with Hercules, helped John at an animal shelter, and cooked with Lafayette. He's studied with James and accidentally learned he and Thomas have been dating for two years. Aaron has also had a two-hour conversation with Alex on what it's like to be in a relationship with more than one person (he had so many questions. What if they get into a fight? What if one person wants to break up with one person from the group but not the other? Alex answered him the best he could, but even he admitted that they are figuring this out as they go). He's taken a job as a waiter and has befriended the cashier, Peggy. In conclusion, he's stayed away from home as much as possible. When he did get home, his uncle would beat him for staying out so late. It's always bad and Aaron has had to miss school because the bruises hurt so much. The group was getting suspicious. In the end, they could only do so much. Aaron came home about twenty minutes late, today. He was asked to help clean up the diner and decided to do it. On the couch in the living room is his uncle.

"Where were you?"

"I was cleaning up at the diner. Sorry for being late." His uncle stood up, slowly moving toward him. Aaron lowered his head. He raised his hand back, striking Aaron across the cheek. Aaron held back the tears.

"Did you think I wasn't gonna figure out who've you've been hanging around?" He sighed, taking the belt out from the cupboard. Aaron's eyes go wide.

"I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

"Thank you so much for taking us to dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Washington."

"Of course, sweetheart. You were already at our house and we were hungry." Martha says, looking out the window. Her face drops at a certain house.

"George, pull over." Washington looked at her with a suspicious look. He pulled over.

"I don't like this house. Have you boys heard anything about it?"

"Non, Madame Washington. Though, I do think I hear a child cry sometimes. John claims it's haunted."

"It's not haunted. A family moved in there recently, remember?" Washington stated, staring at it. Through an open window in the kitchen, they hear a scream.

"What was that!?!" Martha and Washington got out of the car.

"You four stay here. Keep a phone handy just in case." They run to the front door and bang on it. An older man opens the door. Alex can see the blood from here.

"What do you want?"

"Why is your hand bloody?"

"I was cutting meat."

"We heard a scream."

"The knife slipped." Alex looks through the door, looking behind the man.

"Is there a body behind him?" Lafayette, Hercules, and John look over to see.

"That's definitely a foot."

"That's not the scarf I knitted for Aaron, is it?" Hercules points to the coat rack that is seen. Sure enough, a black and purple knitted scarf is hanging from it. John jumps out of the car.

"Shit!" The three other follow, running toward them. Martha looks back.

"I told you four to stay in the car." They push past the three of them, running to the person on the floor. Aaron was laying down, blood pouring out of his body. He's in the fetal position, holding his stomach. Lafayette gets down.

"Shh, it's okay Aaron, mon petit fleur. We're here now. It's gonna be okay." Aaron looks at them, eye glossed over.

"Leave." His voice was hoarse and was about to give out. The man looks at them.

"You better listen to him or I'll call the police."

"While a man is bleeding to death because you beat him? Yeah, I don't think so." Washington stated, walking in. Martha gasps at the scene. Washington picks up Aaron, taking him to the car. Aaron looks up.

"Don't. You could get in trouble. He could hurt you."

"It'll be fine." John and Alex rush to the van and put the front two seats down. Washington puts Aaron in the back. Hercules and Lafayette also jump in. The seven of them head out, looking for a hospital.

"There's one near the police station." Martha said. Washington looks out of the corner of his eye.

"That's a fifteen-minute drive. Is there a closer one?" The look on Martha's face answered his question. Alex looks up while still holding on to Aaron's hand.

"Will Aaron make it that far."

"I don't think he has a choice." Alex looks back down. Aaron's head is in Lafayette's lap, Alex is by his side, and John and Hercules are sitting behind them. Aaron looks at him and smiled.

"I've survived worse, Alex." Martha looked back.

"You've survived worse? How long has this been happening?" Aaron's face dropped and he hid his face. Washington laid a hand on Martha's leg.

"Now's not the time. Right now, we need to keep him awake." John crawls to the other side of Aaron. 

"Come on, Aaron. Stay alive." Aaron's eyes slowly drift shut. Lafayette pets his head.

"Keep your eyes open, mon petit fleur." Hercules crawled over. Much like the other three, he's crying.

"Aaron, tell me about something. What are you gonna do when you graduate?"

"I-" Aaron begins coughing up blood. John and Alex rub each hand. Lafayette lets out a cry.

"Come on Aaron. You still need to teach me to drive a motorcycle. Don't you remember? You promised after you took me for a ride. And-and what about the scarf you were knitting and the book you are reading. You have to stay awake, you can't die now." Aaron smiled and wiped a tear from Alex's eye.

"I'm not going anywhere."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

It's been twenty minutes since they took Aaron to the hospital. They took him to a small room and asked the six of them to stay in the waiting room. They said he should be fine. They were just gonna clean his wounds and then send him on his way. They said he'll be up and able to see visitors in a half an hour to an hour. They said that it wasn't life-threatening and there was nothing to worry about.

That's what they said.

Alex is curled up against Hercules. He never liked hospitals and this whole experience is making it much worse. They were in a waiting room specifically for that department. Martha is staring out the room to the hallway they took Aaron down.

"Oh no." They all look. A group of doctors goes running down the hall, screaming about preparing another room. An alarm at the receptionist that lets them know something is wrong is going crazy and they have a frantic look in their eye. The seven doctors come out of the room, yelling to clear the hallway. Washington stands in front of the waiting room door and the rest follow.

"PREPARE A ROOM IN THE ICU! EMERGENCY SURGERY, EMERGENCY SURGERY!"

"DOCTOR, WE'RE LOSING HIM!" The voices continue, overlapping with each other. through to doctors running, Alex sees a hospital bed and a face he's got to know for five months.

"AARON!" Washington holds him back, waiting for the doctors to leave.

"They need to focus on Aaron right now, you'll only get in the way. I'm sorry, son."

"I'M NOT YOUR SON!" Washington looks at him, sadness prevalent on his features. Alex breaks. He begins sobbing and Washington pulls him into his chest. Martha is holding John and Lafayette and Hercules is holding each other. A nurse comes out.

"I'm assuming you saw them take him away."

"What happened?" The nurse gestures toward the seats. They all sit down.

"He went downhill. Basically, his rib broke and it punctured his lung. The sad part is that this has happened before and has never been treated. He also had a broken arm that healed wrong. We are gonna need to fix the ribs and re-break his arm in order to get it to heal correctly. The rib also punctured the heart. He has major internal bleeding and cannot breathe on his own. He's not doing well."

"But will he live?"

"I don't know. Who is his legal guardian? We must talk with them." At this point, Alex is getting frustrated.

"He was the one who did this to him." Bitterness and anger were obvious in his voice. The nurse nodded her head.

"Right. Well then, I have quite a bit of paperwork I need to start filling out, then. Abuse always 

messes things up." Alex gets up.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is Aaron's condition an inconvenience for you!?!"

"Alex! Thank you for keeping us updated. When will we be able to see him?"

"I don't know. The waiting room for that section is down two halls and two on the left. There are signs there to help you out." The group get up and go over.

______________________________________________________________________________ 

Washington rubs his eyes. It's currently 2:00 a.m. Martha took the boys home and Washington was waiting alone. He knew they wanted to stay, but it was best for everyone for them to go get some sleep. Washington doubts they ended up getting any at all. A doctor exits the room.

"George Washington?" He stood up.

"Yes?"

"The surgery was long and there were a few difficulties. It was extremely difficult to operate on the lung and the heart when the other is so weak. Luckily, everything is fixed. His arm has been put in a cast, his rib is back and should heal, and his heart and lung will heal in about 6 to 8 weeks. Those weeks may be the most painful ones he's ever experienced, though. He will be awake in thirty minutes."

"Thank you." Washington stepped outside, calling his wife.

"Hello?" That was definitely not his wife.

"Alex? Where's Martha?"

"She's taking a shower."

"At two in the morning?"

"Nobody has been able to sleep. How's Aaron doing? Is he okay?"

"He'll live."

"Okay. Martha's out of the shower. Here you go." He gives the phone to Martha.

"What happened?"

"Aaron just came out of surgery. He'll be awake in half an hour. Would you tell the boys?"

"Of course. We'll be there as soon as it's visiting hours. I love you."

"I love you too." Washington went back inside. Twenty minutes later, the doctor came back out.

"He's awake. Would you like to see him?" Washington followed the doctor. Hooked up to a bunch of machines is Aaron. Washington never saw him normally, but even he can tell that Aaron is fragile. Washington sat down.

"Hello, son. My name is George Washington. I'm the guardian of Alex." Aaron looks over. He looks dead in the eyes.

"Is he here?"

"No. He will be here with the others in the morning." 

"That's probably a good thing. I don't have the energy to deal with them right now." Washington chuckled. 

"Does my uncle know I'm here?"

"Child Protective's Service has been notified and so you don't have to worry about him. You won't even be legally allowed to go back until there is a full investigation. You're safe." Aaron smiles. Despite everything, his smile radiated with all the force of the sun. Washington can't help but give a part of a smile back.

"Will you stay with me? I want to die with someone here."

"You're not gonna die, son."

"But just in case. I've been alone in life, I don't want to be alone in death." Washington's heart broke, just a little. He may seem cold, but he always had a soft spot for children. And, at that moment, the calm and collected person Alex has told him about didn't exist. It was a young orphan who just wanted someone to remind him that everything is going to be okay.

"You won't be alone, anymore. I'll stay with you and so will Alex, John, Hercules, and Laf. Now, rest. I'll be here when you wake." Aaron falls asleep with Washington by his side.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

The four boys came along with Martha. The sight of Aaron wasn't a pleasant one and Laf broke down in tears on the spot. Aaron was discharged from the hospital two months later and stayed with the Washingtons. His uncle was arrested and Aaron started going to therapy. Though James and Thomas never officially said that they were dating, somebody did take a picture of them kissing at a coffee shop. Aaron went to college with Laf, John, Hercules, and Alex. After their sophomore year, Aaron started dating the four of them as well. He was happy. He was wanted.

He was never again alone.


End file.
